Robert Godier Bottom, , better known as Bob Bottom, is a retired Australian investigative journalist and author.

Career

In the words of Malcolm Brown in ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'', Bottom made "heroic, ground breaking efforts to expose organised crime" and "did more than any other single individual to bring crime and corruption to public attention in NSW in the 1970s and 1980s". At times, he and his family were afforded 24-hour police protection. One of his most famous exposes, the release in 1984 through ''The Age'' newspaper of material on identities and rackets from telephone taps illegally carried out by undercover police in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, provoked state and national inquiries and ultimately prompted governments to allow law enforcement agencies to legally use telephone interception in organised crime cases. Over the years, he has participated in 18 Royal Commission and other judicial and parliamentary inquiries and has played a key role in the establishment of state and national institutions to combat organised crime and corruption. He sparked his first inquiry into the

New South Wales police force The New South Wales Police Force is a law enforcement agency of the state of New South Wales, Australia, established in 1862. With more than 17,000 police officers, it is the largest police organisation in Australia, policing an area of 801,60 ...

with an exposé in '' The Bulletin'' magazine in 1963 with an article titled Behind the Barrier. Since his retirement, Bottom still writes occasional articles, and has been a regular witness before parliamentary committee hearings reviewing law enforcement efforts to combat organised crime.

Honours

In 1997, for his "service to the community and to journalism through the investigation and reporting of organised crime in Australia" Bottom was awarded the

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of then ...

(OAM) in the

1997 Australia Day Honours The 1997 Australia Day Honours are appointments to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by Australian citizens. The list was announced on 26 January 1997 by the Governor General of Australia, Sir William Deane. The Aust ...

. In 2003 he was made an honorary professor of journalism by Queensland's

Jschool Jschool is an independent journalism college based in Brisbane, Australia. The college, founded in 2001, admitted its first students in 2002. Jschool is directed and was founded by journalist and educator John Henningham. Diploma of Journalism J ...

for his "outstanding contribution to journalism", and in 2019 he received the Danger Lifetime Achievement Award, part of the Sydney Crime Writers Festival.

Bibliography

Author

*''Behind the Barrier''. Gladesville, N.S.W.:

Gareth Powell Gareth Powell (26 May 1934 – 16 September 2016) was a Welsh-born Australian publisher, journalist, author, and editor. During the 1960s, Powell was managing director of two London publishing houses, Mayflower Books and then the New English ...

Associates, 1969. *''The Godfather in Australia: Organised Crime's Australian Connections''. Terrey Hills, N.S.W.: A. H. & A. W. Reed, 1979. *''Without Fear or Favour''. South Melbourne: Sun Books, 1984. *''Connections: Crime Rackets and Networks of Influence Down-Under''. South Melbourne : Sun Books, 1985. *''Connections II: Crime Rackets and Networks of Influence in Australia''. South Melbourne : Sun Books, 1987. *''Shadow of Shame: How the Mafia Got Away with the Murder of Donald Mackay''. South Melbourne : Sun Books, 1988. *''Bugged! : Legal Police Telephone Taps Expose the Mr Bigs of Australia's Drug Trade''. South Melbourne : Sun, 1989. *''Fighting Organised Crime: Triumph and Betrayal in a Lifelong Campaign''. Nelson Bay, N.S.W.: BBP, 2009.

Co-authored

*''Inside Victoria: A Chronicle of Scandal'' – with John Silvester, Tom Noble and Paul Daley. Chippendale, N.S.W. : Pan Macmillan, 1991.

Edited

*''Big Shots: A Who's Who in Australian Crime'' by David Wilson and Lindsay Murdoch. South Melbourne: Sun Books, 1985. *''Big Shots II'' by David Wilson and Paul Robinson. South Melbourne: Sun Books, 1987.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bottom, Bob Australian investigative journalists Year of birth missing (living people) Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Living people 20th-century Australian journalists